Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 30, 1995 TAG: 9501300007
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Yet, for now at least, discussion of annexation is best kept out of public view, elected officials believe. All discussions so far have taken place in closed-door sessions.
``There's really nothing to let the public in on,'' said Fuzzy Minnix, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors.
Supervisors went into closed session Jan. 10 to discuss negotiations with Vinton. The town manager, mayor and vice mayor were present.
The meeting was held in the supervisors' fourth-floor conference room. Afterward, the Vinton guests left by the back stairway rather than the main elevator - past a waiting reporter.
County officials defend the secretiveness as necessary to working out a solution. Letting the public in too early could lead to misunderstandings and confusion, Supervisor Harry Nickens said.
In open session, ``you've got TV cameras, print media, radio...''
He said he doesn't want to go public until ``we have a clear direction to share with people.'' He said he had no idea when that would be.
One supervisor didn't see the need for the Jan. 10 executive session.
``I don't know why we had the meeting, to be honest with you,'' Supervisor Bob Johnson said. ``I don't have any problem discussing everything we discussed in the open. I didn't hear anything of such a secretive nature.''
But, he said, if other members of the board want to meet behind closed doors, he'll agree.
``It's something very sensitive to the town of Vinton. It's their [annexation] study.''
Asked about the exit route after the meeting, Vinton Mayor Charles Hill said: ``I came down the same way I came in, from the parking lot. I have no reason - everything we've done has been aboveboard.''
The annexation study - done in 1990 and updated last year - has cost Vinton taxpayers $130,000 but hasn't been made available to residents. The Roanoke Times & World-News requested a copy under the Freedom of Information Act but was turned down on the grounds that the study is protected because it was prepared ``specifically for use in litigation.''
It's litigation that county supervisors hope to avoid through negotiations with the town.
One county resident who strongly opposed annexation when the first round of discussions was held in 1990 said his mind was changed after talking to Vinton officials.
Open discussion ``helps inform the public what's going on; it explains a lot about the issues to the public,'' Mike Schneider said. ``Why aren't they doing this?''
He said he can understand an executive session for a personnel issue.
``What I don't understand is why they debate major government moves like this,'' he said. ``I, like every other citizen, become suspicious.''
As with the Roanoke-Roanoke County consolidation negotiations several years ago, Schneider said, closed meetings beg the question, ``What are they hiding?''
C.E. Stewart, a county resident opposed to annexation who polled more than 1,500 fellow residents on the issue in 1990, also would rather see the discussions take place in open session.
``Government ought to be open,'' he said. ``But it doesn't surprise me.''
Elected officials must conduct all public business in the open except in specific instances listed by state law. One of those - discussion of a legal matter requiring advice from an attorney - covers the annexation discussions, even though no legal action has been taken, County Attorney Paul Mahoney said. If Vinton proceeds with annexation, it would have to go through court, making it a legal matter.
``The board has the right to go through executive session before it turns into warfare,'' Mahoney said. ``At some point in time, there will be a very formalistic, very open, very excruciating public process.''
As county attorney, he said, he has to balance the right of his client - the Board of Supervisors - to receive adequate legal advice with the requirement for county business to be out in the open.
In a situation where officials are just learning about a topic, the media skewer them for making off-the-cuff suggestions or asking less-than-thoughtful questions, Mahoney said.
``Every time we think out loud in public, we get crucified,'' he said.
So negotiations are best done away from public view, Nickens said.
``You're best to do that without a broad audience'' so there's no posturing and no mistaken impressions by the public of what are proposals and what is just thinking out loud.
``I think it's in everyone's best interests to have these discussions in private,'' he said.
But, Schneider said, when officials say they're representing residents' best interests, ``It's hard to tell me that when you're doing that in secret.''
by CNB